Everyone looked back to the red stallion with mortified expressions and hollow feelings in their guts. They felt a knot developing in their stomachs from having witnessed such a terrible thing, and some of them even felt ill. Most of all however, the ponies felt bad for their unlikely ally.

Raincloud stared at the lifeless body of her former colleague with a shocked expression of sadness. She seemed to be processing her emotions as she remained still and silent. Although she didn’t break down crying, a single set of tears traveled down her face as she stared ahead with her mouth agape.

“Raincloud… are you ok?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone. The grey pegasus turned to see the unicorn and her friends offering her sympathetic expressions. She felt terrible knowing that she must have looked like some kind of emotional wreck despite her best attempts to keep herself composed.

“Yeah… I’m… *Sniff*… I’m fine.” Raincloud said while wiping her eyes and turning away from the others. She was surprised to feel a gentle hoof being placed on her shoulder. She looked back to see Pinkie Pie patting her on the back sympathetically.

“It’s ok, you can let it out and cry… nobody will think less of you.” Pinkie said in a reassuring tone. The pink mare was surprised to see the pegasus shove her hoof away and take a few steps back.

“Don’t push your luck. We’re not friends… we’re just fighting a common enemy.” Raincloud said while returning her prickly exterior in full. The others couldn’t believe that the grey mare was still rejecting them. They didn’t exactly like her either, but at least they were trying to comfort her after such a severe loss.

“Hmph… meanie.” Pinkie muttered while offering the pegasus a wary stare while she walked away.

“Speaking of common enemy… shouldn’t we hurry up and go stop the big scary monster before it takes over the world?” Glimmer Shine suggested from the back of the group. The others looked over to see the stallion bandaging up Rainbow Dash’s injury while Glitterball took care of Applejack’s wounds.

“Yeah, I agree. We shouldn’t just be standing here, we should be- ow!” Rainbow Dash yelped as the yellow stallion finished wrapping the bandages around her wound. Although it wasn’t very severe, the cut on her chest did have stinging pains whenever something touched it.

“Well… I guess you’re right. We do need to stop that thing. I would recommend you six getting the elements of harmony ready before we bust in there and piss it off.” Raincloud suggested while glancing over to the door that led into the throne room.

“Let me go get the elements.” Luna said while looking to the small bag she placed at the back of the room earlier. Twilight and the others looked over to the small satchel with anxious expressions. Knowing that the bag held something so important made them well up with a mixture of emotions as they thought about using the elements again.

“I just hope the elements will work… that thing in there must be really powerful.” Fluttershy said in a nervous tone while eyeing the throne room door uneasily.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy. It doesn’t matter how strong that thing in there is. The forces of light will always win against the forces of darkness in the end.” Twilight stated confidently while offering the others a reassuring smile. Everyone felt more confident as they looked around and saw their friends close by.

“Wrong…” A hushed and distorted voice suddenly filled the room. The unexpected sound made the hair on everyone’s necks stand on end.

“D-did anyone else hear that?” Fluttershy asked while cowering low to the floor and darting her eyes around. The fearful expressions on her friends’ faces told the yellow mare that the strange voice wasn’t just in her imagination.

*Bzzt*

A sudden and violent vibration coming from their vests made Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and Sunspot look down. Their locator vials were practically shaking against their bodies from how much they were vibrating. The liquid inside the vials were also flashing from dim to bright, which was a phenomenon that none of the three had seen before.

“Aw crud, not again!” Glimmer Shine said in a nervously annoyed tone while unclipping the vial from his vest and tossing it on the ground. Before Sunspot and Glitterball could question their friend’s odd behavior, all three of their vials shattered with a loud pop that startled them into jumping.

“Yikes!” Sunspot exclaimed while recovering from the jolt to her system. She pulled up the broken remains of her locator on its pull cord and stared at it with an uneasy expression. The last time the vials had failed like this was back at the mansion due to the combined power of the three spirits.

“Sister… do you feel that?” Luna asked in a shocked tone while looking towards the throne room door with a horrified expression. The most potent and vile energy she had ever felt in her life was seeping into the room like some kind of invisible gas, and the source of the energy was strong enough to make the blue alicorn physically ill.

“Yes sister… I feel that.” Celestia said while adopting a more serious expression as she stared at the throne room door. “I’ve felt that energy once before… just a few minutes before you found me.” She explained while thinking back to her previous experience with the energy she was feeling. It was much stronger, and much more pronounced, but there was no doubt about it. The energy she was feeling right now was coming from Shade.

Suddenly, a low noise started making its presence known above the eerie silence in the room. The ponies could only loosely discern the noise to be a mixture of wind blowing and disembodied high pitched whispering.

“You are wrong…” The voice from before spoke up again, though this time it sounded like it was coming from the direction of the throne room. Everyone looked ahead with a mixture of frightened and nervous expressions as a sort of black mist started coming out from under the door across the room. The smoke thickened as more of it came out until it resembled the smoke that most shadow creatures emitted when they died. The disquieting sound of wind roaring and low whispering intensified as more of the dark substance filled the area around the door. Soon enough, the ponies couldn’t even see the throne room door anymore.

Twilight felt her friends huddling close together. The five mares had varying degrees of fear and unease written on their faces. Even Applejack and Rainbow Dash were trembling slightly as they stared ahead with pale expressions of horror.

Glimmer Shine and his two teammates stood near the six mares defensively. Although they weren’t sure if their strobes would even do anything, they held onto them as if they were their last line of defense against whatever terrifying force was making its presence known.

Although everyone in the room could feel a pervasive sense of unease in the air, the two alicorns and the grey pegasus could actually feel the power of the unseen force behind the smoke. Celestia and Luna almost had their senses overwhelmed by what they were feeling, and Raincloud had never felt something this strong in her long time knowing Raven Feather and practicing shadow magic.

Through the mass of smoke and mist in front of the throne room, the ponies could barely see something moving. It was almost impossible to tell what it was due to the thick darkness around it, but whatever it was seemed to be moving closer. Suddenly, and without much warning, a pair of stark glowing red eyes opened up through the smoke. The eyes weren’t a solid shade of red, although that would have been plenty disturbing on its own. Instead, there were two black pupils in the midst of the crimson glow.

“AHH!!” Pinkie Pie screamed fearfully as the two eyes appeared. Perhaps it was the sudden appearance of whatever creature the eyes belonged to, or perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of fear in the air, but the ponies suddenly felt every ounce of courage in their bodies vanish.

The thick veil of dark smoke started to fade, revealing more of the shape that the group saw glimpses of before. Along with the silhouette of a body coming into view, the ponies could see light pulses of solid black energy being emanated from whatever terrible monster was standing before them. As more of the smoke cleared, the group could finally make out the full shape of their foe.

The thing standing before them wasn’t Grimwood, or at least it wasn’t anymore. The creature looked like a pony, but it was much larger than the colt originally was, standing at around a full grown stallion’s height. The color of its fur was mostly black, although there was a faint tone of pale grey mixed in that distinguished it from the dark smoke around it. On top of being unnaturally dark and slightly transparent, the creature’s fur almost looked like it was moving, though closer inspection revealed this to be more shadow energy erratically crawling along its body. Its hair was of similar length to Grimwood’s short hair, but it looked like it had faint shadows moving around it.

“Even the brightest light casts a shadow, Twilight Sparkle…” The creature spoke while directing its disturbing gaze toward the purple unicorn and her friends. Twilight felt her legs shaking beneath her as she tried to stand up tall in the face of her enemy. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t calm her racing heart or her panicked breathing. It was almost like the creature was emanating an aura of fear.

“What… what is that?!” Rainbow Dash asked in a terrified tone.

“I think that thing is Shade…” Celestia said in a stunned tone while trying to wrap her head around the overwhelming thought of how the monstrosity before her came to be.

“That’s Shade?! I thought he was using Grimwood’s body… isn’t he just a colt?!” Glimmer Shine asked while staring at the shadowy creature with a shocked expression.

“He must have somehow changed Grimwood’s body as he became stronger… I can’t think of any other explanation.” Celestia replied while trying her best to not sound as nervous as she felt.

“S-so much power… how? How did he get that much energy?” Raincloud stammered in a distressed tone. The others looked over to see the pegasus staring ahead with her mouth agape and her legs quivering. Her whole body was shaking from how much she was shivering. Seeing the normally hard headed mare in such a terrified state only further cemented the fear that the group was feeling.

“Raincloud, we need you with us if we’re going to win.” Celestia said in a serious tone while looking to the grey mare with a stern expression. While trying to snap herself out of her own fearful stupor, Raincloud’s thoughts drifted to Dust Kicker and all of her other friends that had died because of the creature in front of her. She quickly regained her usual expression of anger as she directed all of her hatred towards Shade.

“Right… I’m all for wiping this thing off of the face of the planet.” Raincloud said in a determined tone while staring ahead with a fierce gleam in her eyes.

Now that the grey pegasus had cast off all of her fears and doubts about fighting, Celestia turned to look at Twilight and her friends. She quickly glanced to the bag at the back of the room that contained the elements of harmony, only to realize that they were in fact the only way to defeat the monstrous pony.

“Twilight, take the others and go get the elements of harmony.” Celestia instructed in an urgent tone. The unicorn seemed willing to obey the princess’s orders, but she was also concerned for what her mentor was planning to do in the meantime.

“What about you?” Twilight asked while looking to the white alicorn with a worried expression.

“We will keep Shade occupied for as long as we can. We need the power of the elements if we’re going to destroy this thing once and for all… now go!” Celestia said in a more serious tone. Twilight nodded in compliance before turning to her friends with a determined expression.

“Come on girls! We’ve got a job to do!” Twilight stated while motioning for the others to follow her. The five mares nodded before following the purple unicorn as she rushed off to gather the elements.

Twilight and the others hurried as fast as they could to reach the edge of the room. As they gathered around the small bag on the ground and glanced behind them, they saw their friends squaring off against the shadowy stallion. Celestia and Luna had their horns lit up, Raincloud was completely geared up to head into battle, and Glimmer Shine and his two teammates were aiming their strobes ahead while standing behind the two alicorns. Strangely enough though, the only one not getting ready to fight was Shade himself. The stallion seemed to be standing still and dwelling in his own thoughts as he looked around at the various ponies in the room. He chuckled slightly as he glanced over to the six mares at the back of the room.

“Do you really think that your little trinkets will stop me?” Shade asked in a quizzical manner. The almost threatening tone of confidence in his voice made the others more than a little unnerved.

“They’ve stopped many powerful beings in your position.” Celestia stated while watching the shadowy pony like a hawk, ready to stand between him and the six mares behind her at any cost.

“In my position? Heh… what do you know about my position? You don’t know anything about me… nobody knows about me. Even Raven Feather didn’t know about me, and she was almost a decent example of your species amounting to something… almost.” Shade said with a slight smirk. While the cocky statement didn’t hold much meaning to most of the group, it did strike a chord in a certain grey pegasus.

“You little bastard!” Raincloud yelled while rushing forward and channeling shadow energy to her hooves.

“Raincloud!” Celestia called after the grey mare. She could only watch as Raincloud ran towards the stallion with an angered expression.

Shade stood still and watched casually as the grey mare charged for him with the full intent to kill in her eyes. Without the stallion even moving, a thin shadow shot out from inside of his own shadow and whipped out along the ground before shooting up and out of the floor. The black tendril moved in a blur and slammed into Raincloud. She yelped in pain and got knocked off her feet, only to have the tendril wrap around her waist tightly and suspend her in the air.

“GAH! Put me… ack! Put me down you asshole!” Raincloud yelled while clutching the tendril around her waist and trying to pull it off of her. The tendril would squeeze tighter every few moments, sending rough throbs of pain through her body that complimented perfectly with the bone chilling coldness she was feeling from being in contact with such potent shadow energy.

“My… how quickly the bravado disappears once things don’t go according to plan.” Shade said while eyeing the imprisoned mare with a sinister gleam in his glowing eyes.

“Up yours!” Raincloud yelled while trying to think of a way out of her current situation. Her own shadow magic didn’t seem to have any effect on the tendril around her, and she was getting squeezed so hard that it was getting hard to breathe.

“Let go of her, Shade!” Celestia demanded in a stern tone while stepping closer to the stallion. The white alicorn and her sister kept their distance and didn’t try to use their magic on the grey mare for fear of her wellbeing.

“And what are you going to do if I don’t? Give me a sunburn or something? I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet or not, but not all things born of shadow need to flee from the sun.” Shade said with a slight chuckle.

“Guh… s-shadow… help me!” Raincloud pleaded desperately while calling for her minion to rescue her. On cue with her command, the grey mare’s shadow elongated and solidified until her ghostly pet came flying out of it with an agitated howl.

The shadow flew up to its master and used its claws to swipe at the dark tendril holding her in place. Much to the shadow’s frustration and Raincloud’s horror, its claws went straight through the tendril without causing any meaningful damage to it.

The specter growled as it watched its master in such distress. Finally, it looked over to the stallion holding the pegasus hostage with murderous intent. With an echoed screech, the shadow flew straight at Shade with its claws blazing with purple light.

Shade raised his front leg into the air and pointed it at the approaching specter. Suddenly, a stream of solid black energy shot out of the stallion’s hoof, catching the shadow mid-flight and enveloping its body as it continued on its path.

Raincloud and the others watched with shocked expressions as the shadow got blasted into the wall by the continuous beam. The specter screamed out in pain, as if the beam were actually doing meaningful damage to it. Before the grey mare could even think to give her minion an order to retreat, the shadowy beam completely engulfed the ghostly creature and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but thin air.

“Shadow?! Shadow!” Raincloud yelled in a shocked tone while looking around. “I can’t feel him anymore… what did you do to him?!” She demanded while looking to the stallion with new anger burning in her eyes.

“Did you really think it would be a good idea to attack me with a shadow creature? Maybe you aren’t as skilled as I remembered you to be Raincloud.” Shade said with an almost disappointed expression.

“Those aren’t your memories to begin with! Get out of Grimwood’s body!” Raincloud yelled while struggling against the tendril wrapped around her. No matter how hard she tried to push or pull it off, or to slink out of its grip somehow, she remained trapped.

“No… I think I’ll be keeping this body. It has grown on me in my short time here.” Shade said while smirking slightly at the grey mare’s anger.

“Put her down!” Twilight demanded in a threatening tone. The surprised group looked over to see the purple unicorn and her friends walking forward with determined expressions shared between them. The six mares’ newfound bravery wasn’t the only weapon in their arsenal however.

Twilight and the others were each wearing one of the legendary elements of harmony. The golden pieces of jewelry each bore a small gem in their center which was modeled after the cutie mark of its wearer. Applejack had an apple, Rarity had a diamond, Pinkie Pie had a balloon, Fluttershy had a butterfly, Rainbow Dash had a lightning bolt, and Twilight had a sort of star. The five necklaces worn by her friends served to compliment the importance of their unity, while the tiara bearing Twilight’s element served to distinguish her and the element of magic to be their fearless leader.

“Whoa… the elements of harmony. I never thought I would get to see them this close.” Glitterball said in an amazed tone while staring at the six mares wielding their respective elements with a glint of wonder in her eyes. Seeing the elements themselves was one thing, but seeing them in use was an entirely different experience.

“Ah yes… I was wondering when you would be using those.” Shade said in a dull tone. The distinctive lack of fear or concern in his voice was heard many times by previous enemies the six mares had encountered.

“Put Raincloud down and face us. If you want to take over Equestria, you will have to get through us.” Twilight said in a bold tone while looking around at her friends. The five mares all had determined expressions on their faces. They were ready to end this fight once and for all.

“Girls… be careful.” Celestia muttered in a concerned tone. She only hoped that the power of the elements would be enough to overtake the frightful amount of energy she knew the stallion possessed.

“Alright, fine… if you want me to put her down I will.” Shade said with a sinister smirk building on his face. Before anyone could react, the shadowy tendril holding onto Raincloud whipped around and tossed her towards the group at high speeds.

Raincloud screamed and tried to right herself in the air, but her speed was too great for her to do anything. The pegasus grunted in pain as she hit the floor and bounced along it roughly before coming to a stop by hitting the wall behind Glimmer Shine and his team.

“Raincloud! Are you ok?!” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while looking over to the motionless grey mare. The guards walked up to the pegasus and examined her for a moment before determining that she was unconscious.

Twilight and the others glared at the shadowy stallion as he chuckled at the grey mare’s misery. He truly was one of the most sadistic foes they had faced, and perhaps the most powerful one that the elements had ever faced, but they were confident that the power of their bonds could triumph and win the day.

“So now what are you going to do? Kill me with the power of friendship? Heh… don’t make me laugh.” Shade said in a confident tone with a serious expression on his face. He stared at the six mares with his unblinking red eyes, sending a slight wave of unease into them as they readied themselves.

“The power of friendship isn’t something to take lightly. No matter what happens here, we will always stick together. If my lessons on friendship have taught me anything, it’s that friendship is worth fighting for!” Twilight stated in an adamant tone before turning to her friends. “Ready girls?” She asked with a determined smile on her face.

“Ready!” Everyone exclaimed in unison while steadying themselves. With her friends behind her, Twilight looked forward and lit up her horn.

Celestia and Luna moved to the side along with the others as a magical buzz sounded out. A faint magical aura surrounded Twilight and the others. Soon enough, each of their elements started glowing with a similar aura.

Everyone else in the room watched in amazement as each of the elements started emitting an outline of light in the shape of their respective jewels. Along with the lights, a magical hum was emitted by each of the elements. Rainbow Dash and the others closed their eyes as their necklaces started moving without them, pulling their bodies along with them as they got closer to Twilight. More solidified rays of light in the shapes of the gems started flying out of the elements and traveling into the air before zipping by and disappearing behind Shade.

Celestia and the others could feel the sheer energy in the air, along with a strange feeling of warmth. It was almost like the elements were emitting pure positivity and love. Despite this awe inspiring display of power, Shade was still standing idly while watching the scene ahead unfold with a slight smirk.

Suddenly, Twilight and the others opened their eyes only to reveal a shining white glow. Their bodies all lifted into the air and gathered together. As they stopped moving and floated in the air, a shockwave of magical energy erupted out around them and a beam of rainbow colored light shot out from above them.

The beam traveled up into the air a short ways before arcing downwards and leveling out to shoot directly into Shade. Before the beam of energy could hit him however, Shade let out a furious roar as he released an aura of energy around him. The same black smoke that arrived when he entered the room appeared and enveloped the stallion before spreading out in a circle. The aura of darkness solidified until the smoke seemed to only serve as a visual flourish. It was like the stallion was standing in the middle of pure darkness despite the fact that the rest of the room was bright and there was a multicolored stream of light careening toward him.

The brilliant beam of energy from the elements collided with the aura of darkness and clashed with it, seemingly held back by its power as if it were a shield. The eerie sound of wind roaring and low whispers filled the air again, seemingly fighting with the peaceful humming and buzzing of the power of the elements to fill the room.

Twilight and the others could feel the power of the elements struggling to push forward. Despite this slight setback, they focused on their love for each other and their bonds with everyone they had ever met to give the elements strength.

The beam of light pushed against the darkness with fierce determination. However, as Shade put more effort into the struggle, the darkness started pushing the light back. Before long, a part of the dark aura could be seen jutting out from the main mass to push the rainbow of light back. It was like Shade was using a beam of his own energy to contend with the elements of harmony, a sight which had never been seen before.

“Uh guys… I don’t think it’s working.” Rainbow Dash said in a concerned tone while raising her voice over the sound of the magical hum around her.

“Stay strong… we can beat him!” Twilight replied in a determined tone while trying her best to concentrate. The six mares had never had to put this much effort into channeling energy into the elements before. Usually the elements simply annihilated any negative power they came across, but it seemed as though they were actually struggling to handle the stallion’s power.

“I see you have much to learn about the power of darkness Twilight Sparkle.” Shade said in an echoed voice that filled the room.

Suddenly, the beam of darkness pushing back on the elements actually started gaining ground. The rainbow of light started moving backwards at an alarming rate. As if they realized they were losing, the elements themselves completely straightened out the beam of light so it was being emitted from the front of the six mares. On top of this slight change, the beam intensified to push back against the overwhelming darkness. But as the light pushed back harder, the darkness grew in strength and continued pushing back.

“This can’t be happening… the elements of harmony aren’t working?!” Sunspot stated in a shocked tone. Everyone else that was gathered around to watch the struggle seemed to be shocked as well.

“Sister… there must be something we can do! We wielded the elements ourselves once… surely our power would be compatible to help them!” Luna said in a desperate tone while turning to her sister with a pleading expression. Celestia looked at Twilight and the others and quickly realized that their power alone wouldn’t be enough. As shocking as it was for her to fathom, Shade seemed to be holding back.

“You’re right… Follow my lead Luna. The fate of Equestria and the world as a whole hinges on what we do right here and now.” Celestia said in an uneasy tone while lighting up her horn. The others watched as the white alicorn teleported herself onto the other side of the six mares and stood in line with them a few feet away. Luna quickly trotted over to be roughly in the same spot on her side of the battle before looking ahead and lighting up her horn.

The two princesses charged up their magic and fired two beams into the stream of light formed by the elements of harmony; one bright yellow beam to represent Celestia and her sun, and one dark blue beam to represent Luna and her moon. The two beams flowed into the rainbow of light and mingled with it until they started swirling around it in a perfect spiral. With the addition in energy, the beam grew slightly and pushed the darkness back more and more.

“We’re doing it!” Pinkie Pie cheered in excitement as she watched the rainbow of lights push its way closer to the shadowy stallion.

“Keep it up everyone!” Twilight said in an eager tone while pouring everything she had into the struggle with Shade.

All six mares, along with the two alicorns to either side strained as hard as they could to best their foe. With the weight of every living thing on the planet weighing heavily on their shoulders, they had to beat the shadowy stallion, and no other outcome was an option for them.

“You fight so hard for your friendship… yet you still do not understand. It doesn’t matter how brilliantly your light shines.” Shade stated in a confident tone. His booming voice practically rang in the ears of everyone in the room. Suddenly, the beam of darkness started pushing back again, only this time it pushed much harder. In a mere moment, the darkness pushed the rainbow of light halfway backwards. It was pushing so hard on the light that it started overtaking it and flowing around it slightly.

“W-what?! No!” Rarity exclaimed in a fearful tone as she felt the overbearing power pressing down on her.

“This can’t be happening… he can’t be this strong!” Twilight yelled in denial. Her once confident tone of voice shifted slightly as fear crept its way into her mind.

“I can’t hold it much longer!” Luna said through gritted teeth as she poured all of her energy into her magical beam. The white alicorn on the other side of the elements wasn’t doing much better. Both of the princesses looked like they were moments away from passing out.

“Many things change, but this never will. Before there was light… there was darkness. From darkness everything was born, and to darkness all of you will return!” Shade yelled fiercely, his distorted voice carrying over every other sound in the room.

As the stream of darkness continued pushing back the power of the elements, Celestia and Luna groaned from exertion before collapsing to their knees as their horns puttered out. Due to the added strain from the beam of shadows, Twilight and the others yelped painfully as they felt more and more of the power being used against them.

“Girls, get out of there!” Glimmer Shine yelled in a fearful tone as he watched the six mares battling to keep the darkness away.

Realizing that they had lost, Twilight and her friends switched their efforts to self-preservation. The mares all grasped at their elements in an attempt at taking them off, but to no avail. The necklaces and the tiara weren’t coming off, like they were stuck in place.

Before they could try any other method of escape, the beam of darkness surged forward and completely overtook the ponies. As they were enveloped in the shadowy beam, they were kept in the air still by the aura of darkness that now covered them.

“AAGHHH!!” Twilight and her friends screamed out in unison as a wave of numbing coldness and pain overtook their bodies.

“GIRLS!!” Celestia yelled in a fearful panic as she watched her faithful student and her friends suffering. Well, she couldn’t exactly see them due to the ball of darkness that covered them, but the alicorn and everyone else in the room could definitely hear the six mares screaming at the top of their lungs.

Finally, the beam of darkness disappeared, but not before sending Twilight and the others flying backwards into the air. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all slammed into the ground at the back of the room, while Twilight fell to the floor only a few feet from where she was. The purple mare’s tiara fell off, and a few of the others lost their necklaces as well as they slipped off and clattered along the floor.

Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, Sunspot, and the guards ran across the room to go inspect the five mares that landed near the entrance. All of them had light amounts of black smoke trailing off of their bodies like they had just been set on fire. Their fur was scorched in a few places, though they felt icy cold to the touch. Thankfully though, they were still breathing.

“Applejack, are you ok?!” Glimmer Shine asked while inspecting the orange mare for injuries. Applejack seemed to be conscious, but she kept her eyes closed and groaned softly as she tried to move her sore body.

“Rarity, Pinkie, how bad are you hurt?!” Glitterball asked in a frantic tone while hovering near the two mares to see if they needed help. Rarity and Pinkie Pie landed next to each other, almost hitting their bodies together as they fell.

“Someone say something!” Sunspot said while feverishly looking around to see if anyone was in good enough shape to communicate. Even Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were struggling to move, barely being able to turn their heads over or get their limbs to move. Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna were focused on the purple mare at the front of the room.

“Twilight, can you hear me?!” Celestia asked while gently shaking the unicorn lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

“P-prin…cess?” Twilight groaned softly while managing to slowly open her eyes. She winced and moaned as she tried to get up, only to have her body refuse her actions.

Celestia and Luna looked behind them to the group at the back of the room. The other five mares were slowly managing to stir and get up off the floor, with the added help of Glimmer Shine and his two teammates.

“Just rest Twilight… you’re lucky to be alive.” Celestia said in a concerned tone.

“Luck had nothing to do with it. They are alive because I didn’t want to kill them… at least not yet.” Shade said with a slight chuckle, bringing the group’s attention back to him. The aura of darkness had faded, leaving the stallion standing right where he was with a devious smirk on his face.

“Stay away. You’ve done enough harm.” Celestia said in a threatening tone while standing in front of Twilight and her sister protectively.

Although Raincloud was still unconscious off to the side, everyone else in the room that was able marched over to stand behind the princesses as they stood up against the stallion. The five mares at the back of the room stood, sat, or remained on the ground and watched as everyone gathered before their enemy.

“We… w-we have to help them.” Rainbow Dash said in a strained tone while fighting through the pains in her body to manage a determined expression. She looked over to see Fluttershy leaning up against her for support as she rested and panted heavily.

“Ah don’t think we can help them Rainbow… Ah don’t know if anyone can help us now.” Applejack said in an exhausted tone. Despite the lack of energy she had, it was easy to tell that the orange mare was frightened and uncertain about what to do.

“Do you see now? It is pointless to stand against me.” Shade said while observing the meager troop of ponies standing before him.

“We can still try.” Sunspot said in a determined tone while readying her strobe.

“Everyone… you need to flee. Take Twilight and the others and get out of here. I will buy you as much time as I can.” Celestia said in a resolute tone while stepping forward nervously. The white alicorn felt her body trembling slightly from fear, which was a feeling that she never thought she would experience. Suddenly, she felt a hoof being placed on her side and looked over to see her sister next to her.

“We’re not leaving you, sister.” Luna said in a confident tone.

“Yeah, if we’re going down… then let’s go down swinging!” Sunspot stated eagerly. Her two teammates and the guards behind her agreed wholly with the orange pegasus. No matter where they ran to, it wouldn’t matter. They had just used their most powerful weapon on the shadowy stallion and failed. But if they were going to die, they would die facing their enemy straight on rather than cowering in a corner.

“Such a bold statement… very well then, if you wish to fight me head on, then let’s fight shall we?” Shade asked in an intrigued tone.

Sunspot, her team, the two alicorns, and all of the guards looked to each other and the six mares recovering behind them. Everyone nodded with somber expressions on their faces before turning their attention forward and readying their weapons.

“Hyah!” Sunspot yelled fiercely while spreading her wings and taking off into the air. Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and the guards all followed after her in charging for their enemy.

Celestia and Luna used whatever energy they had left and fired off a series of magical bursts towards the shadowy stallion. The few unicorn guards used their horns while the others used their swords as they ran towards Shade bravely. Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and Sunspot all fired their strobes relentlessly towards the stallion.

Shade chuckled slightly as he saw all of the attacks coming his way. He allowed the blasts from the strobes and the unicorns to harmlessly impact his body. Whatever miniscule surface damage was done from the attacks was healed almost instantly as his shadowy body reformed. Finally, he decided to go on the offensive.

Two shadowy tendrils shot out along the ground and whipped around. The ponies kept a wary eye on the shadows as they remained translucent and stayed in the floor as natural shadows would have. With little warning, one of the tendrils shot out of the ground and went straight for Sunspot. The orange pegasus darted to the side mid-air, just narrowly dodging the tendril as it whipped past her. She quickly fired a few blasts from her strobe towards the stallion in the hopes of distracting him, but Shade was hardly fazed by the attempt.

The other tendril shot up from the floor and coordinated with the other tendril to go after the orange pegasus. While Sunspot ducked under one of the tendrils in the air, the other one reached up and wrapped around her leg.

“Hey, what th- AHH!” Sunspot yelped fearfully as she was yanked backwards by her leg. The thin tendril was surprisingly strong, being more than strong enough to counter her momentum and wing power in order to slam her into the ground.

While the orange pegasus bounced off the ground and groaned painfully while recovering, the others continued past her on their way towards Shade. Glimmer Shine fired his strobe at the two tendrils, managing to land a hit on both of them and effectively reducing their size as large pieces of them broke off and turned into smoke.

Before the yellow pony could get too close, Shade raised his front leg and shoved it towards him. Glimmer Shine widened his eyes in surprise as a shockwave of darkness erupted in front of him. There was little the stallion could do except for bracing for the impact.

“Gaaahhh!” Glimmer Shine screamed as he was flung backwards into the air. He traveled several feet until he finally bounced along the ground and settled in a crumpled heap.

Ignoring the failure of their colleagues, the small troop of guards readied their swords and ran towards Shade. Among their numbers, Glitterball stayed at the back of the charging group along with the unicorn guards and prepared her magic to attack the shadowy stallion.

As the first guard reached the stallion, he yelled fiercely while swinging his sword at him. Before he could even make contact however, Shade punched his hoof into his stomach while channeling shadow energy to it. The guard let out a stifled cry of pain as he faltered while blood poured from his stomach. Much to the horror of everyone watching, a sharp mass of shadow energy pierced clean through the white stallion, effectively impaling him.

Shade effortlessly tossed the dying guard to the side and looked ahead to the others. The remaining four sword wielders looked to their fallen friend and glared at their enemy with newfound rage. Glitterball and the three unicorn guards shifted their expressions to more serious ones as they opened fire on the stallion with their magic.

As the four earth pony guards got closer, and the bolts of magic sailed towards him, Shade smirked slightly while redirecting his influence. The shadowy tendrils that Glimmer Shine cut down earlier grew back their missing portions. Along with the two tendrils regenerating, several new tendrils shot out from the stallion’s shadow and whipped up out of the ground.

One of the tendrils slashed sideways across one of the earth pony guards, catching him across the neck. The guard’s armor cracked and a trickle of blood came out as his neck was cut into slightly. The force of the strike sent the stallion tumbling sideways.

The sudden and brutal strike on their ally was enough to make another two guards briefly look to the dying stallion with mortified expressions. However, their brief distraction proved to be a critical error. A pair of the wispy tendrils shot towards them. Instead of impaling them as they had expected and prepared for, the shadows wrapped themselves around the top of their necks. Before they could even react, they were picked up off of the ground and dangled by their throats. Everyone who was able watched with mortified expressions as the two stallions struggled to get free. Just when the group thought that the pair would suffocate, the tendrils holding them jerked to the side quickly and a sickening crack sounded out. Shade quickly tossed the two lifeless guards aside and let their bodies settle in a crumpled heap on the ground.

“AGHH!!” The remaining earth pony guard screamed out in pain as two of the other tendrils pierced into his side, going straight through his body and cutting into anything that got into their way. Blood spurted out of the entry and exit wounds, nearly covering the guard and the ground beneath him in the crimson fluid. A third tendril pierced through his chest as he was picked up off the ground. After a brief yelp and a jerk, the stallion went limp in the tendrils’ grasp. Shade quickly used the tendrils to toss the guard’s body aside as he had done with the others.

Before any of the projectiles flying through the air could hit him, Shade used the multiple tendrils to swat them out of the air. If the blast was strong enough to destroy a tendril in the collision, it would just regrow a few moments later.

Glitterball and her three companions ceased firing and looked at each other as they tried to think of another strategy. Before she could think of anything meaningful, the white mare saw the tendrils heading straight for her and the guards next to her.

“Look out!” Glitterball exclaimed while ducking under one of the tendrils as it swiped at her. The guards tried to dodge out of the way, but they weren’t as lucky as she was.

Almost in perfect sync, all of the guards got hit with multiple tendrils as they slashed across their bodies. The strikes cut into their bodies around their chest and sides, knocking them down in the process. Before Glitterball could even try to help, the three stallions got impaled by a single tendril coming down into the center of their bodies like a spear.

“GAH!” Glitterball screamed in agony as her back leg erupted into pain. She looked back to see one of the tendrils sticking through her limb, with blood pouring out around it. The unicorn tried to light up her horn to shoot the tendril or teleport away, but before she could focus on a spell, she felt herself getting yanked off her feet and suspended in the air by her wounded leg.

“Glitterball!!” Sunspot and the others yelled fearfully as they watched the unicorn getting lifted upwards by the shadowy tendril. There were tears streaming off her face and hitting the floor from the unsurmountable amount of pain coursing through her leg, but she still somehow found the strength to try and struggle out of the tendril’s grasp. However, no matter what she did, she couldn’t escape. The tendril was impaled clean through her upper leg, and it wasn’t letting go anytime soon.

Glitterball looked up to see all of the other tendrils pausing in the air and pointing at her menacingly. Taking a brief look to the lifeless bodies of the guards, she immediately knew what was going to happen next.

“No, no, no! Please!” Glitterball whimpered while shaking her head. When she charged forward to face her death head on, she didn’t expect it to come this soon, and certainly not this brutally.

The collection of shadowy tendrils reeled back and shot out toward the dangling unicorn. Glitterball and many of the others in the room averted their eyes and yelped in denial. Just when the white mare thought she was going to die, she heard a strobe being discharged and felt the tendril holding her by the leg release her suddenly.

Opening her eyes and looking to the side in surprise, Glitterball saw Sunspot in midflight and the remains of the tendril holding her turning to smoke. The orange pegasus crashed into the unicorn and continued flying to make it out of the path of the piercing spikes about to collide with them.

“Agh!” Sunspot yelped as one of the tendrils shot through her lower stomach. Thankfully due to her movement, she was able to roll and prevent the tendril from impaling her too deeply. Unfortunately for her and the white mare clutched in her arms, she wasn’t able to keep flying with the stabbing pain in her side.

The two ponies crashed into the floor and bounced once before hitting the wall and stopping. After a brief moment of recovery, Glitterball looked at her friend and smiled softly. She trailed her eyes down and paled as she saw her side pouring blood everywhere.

“Sunspot… you’re hurt.” Glitterball said in a stunned tone of concern. The orange pegasus cringed while getting up, seemingly ignoring her injury to the best of her ability.

“It’s not as bad as what was going to happen to you. Come on… we need to move.” Sunspot said while trying to walk forward. She immediately faltered and clutched her side with a pained expression, only to have Glitterball rush to her side to help steady her.

“And just where do you two think you are going?” Shade asked with a sinister tone of voice. The two mares looked back to see the stallion staring right at them with his glowing red eyes. All of the tendrils were receding back into his own shadow, but he still had a threatening air about him. He could most likely find another way to kill the ponies if he wanted.

“Leave them alone.” Celestia said while rushing over to stand in front of the two mares. Shade and the two ponies were surprised to see Luna and Glimmer Shine trotting up behind the white alicorn in a defensive stance.

“We won’t let you hurt anyone else.” Luna said in a threatening tone while glaring at the shadowy stallion.

“Princess…” Sunspot muttered in a humbled tone. She signed up for the blue alicorn’s team to help her protect Equestria, but now the princess of the night was protecting her.

“You two need to rest. Let us handle this.” Glimmer Shine said in a confident tone.

Meanwhile, Shade was busy looking around at the ponies scattered around the room. The elements of harmony were still at the back of the room, recuperating from their injuries and watching with concerned expressions. Twilight Sparkle was still on the floor where she landed, doubtlessly trying to recover herself. And now everyone else was standing up strong in the face of certain death.

“Enough of this… I grow bored with all of you. Step aside now and I might consider letting you live a while longer.” Shade said in a serious tone. He took a step forward, only to have a magical laser shot at his feet.

“We’re not letting you leave this room. You’ve caused enough havoc from just being in here. You will not harm the rest of Equestria, or anyone else for that matter.” Celestia said while standing her ground with her horn lit up and an icy glare thrown in the stallion’s general direction.

“I will not be told what to do by someone as weak as you Celestia!” Shade yelled while stamping his hoof down on the ground. Just as it made contact with the floor, a dark shadow raced out of the stallion’s hoof and traveled towards the group of ponies.

Celestia and the others widened their eyes in surprise as the floor started breaking up as shockwaves of energy shot out from where the shadow was. Each eruption out of the floor got progressively bigger, until it reached the ponies as the white alicorn placed a shield around them.

Celestia felt her shield shattering and her body traveling upwards and backwards. She along with everyone behind her was being flung through the air violently. Everyone screamed as they careened all the way to the back of the room, where they all slammed into the wall full stop. A bone crunching thud accompanied each of them as they simultaneously stopped screaming and grunted in pain before falling to the floor.

Sunspot, Glitterball, Glimmer Shine, Luna, and Celestia were all lying in a heap on the floor. They tried moving, but anything remotely close to using effort only reminded them of how much pain they were in. Eventually however, the five managed to move themselves to where they could look up.

“Guys! Are you ok?!” A distressed voice called out from the side. The group looked over to see Rainbow Dash slowly hobbling over to them with her friends in tow. The five mares were still weak and battered from their own ordeal, but they had to check on their friends.

“I think I just broke every bone in my body… guh… I think… I think I broke bones I didn’t know I had.” Sunspot muttered in a strained tone while trying to move her sore limbs to clutch her previous injury. She was most likely incorrect, but she most likely did have a few broken bones, if not a concussion.

“Oh, you poor things… just lay there and rest.” Rarity said with a concerned frown while looking at the heap of ponies. Even the two alicorns were having trouble moving their battered bodies.

“I offered you a chance at staying alive longer, and yet still you chose to stand against me.” Shade spoke up from across the room. The group looked over to see the stallion slowly walking towards them from all the way at the front of the room. Despite the distance he had to travel and the pace he was going at, the ponies froze up with terrified expressions as they watched him getting closer.

“Surely you must have known that you wouldn’t win… so why did you choose to fight? Well… I suppose it doesn’t matter now. You’re all going to die at my hands… or rather, hooves.” Shade said with a slight chuckle while continuing on his way across the room.

“Everyone… l-leave while you can. Just… just go.” Celestia pleaded while managing to turn her head to look at the ponies next to her.

“We’re not leaving… no matter what.” Rainbow Dash said with a slightly hesitant tone as she turned to look at the stallion across the room.

“Well girls… it looks like it’s the end for us.” Applejack said in a somber tone while looking around at her friends. Everyone was scared out of their minds, but they hadn’t thought that they were going to die for certain until the orange mare made things painfully clear to them.

“*Sniff* I love you guys… come here!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while pulling in all her friends for one last group hug. The four mares accepted the gesture and clung to each other while letting fresh tears well up in their eyes.

Everyone turned to look at Shade as he made it roughly halfway to them. They never would have thought that they would die when they got up this morning to come to a friend’s funeral. They wondered what would happen to their friends and family after they died and the shadowy stallion was free to roam across Equestria unfettered. No matter what happened, they hoped that they would be together again in whatever waited for them after death.

“Stop right there!” The group heard a voice call out in a determined tone from across the room. After looking around for a moment, they saw the source of the voice in the middle of the room.

“Twilight…?” Celestia muttered in a surprised tone.

Shade stopped in his tracks and looked beside him. Sure enough, there she was. Twilight was on her knees with her eyes closed and her head resting on the floor. After a moment of rest, she pushed herself up with her front legs and stood up to face the stallion. She was shaking almost constantly, and her legs looked like they were just barely supporting her weight, but through all of the pain and exhaustion on her face, there was steely determination.

“Are you seriously going to be the one to try and stop me?” Shade asked while rolling his eyes and sighing.

“N-no… I can’t stop you. I’m not sure if anyone can.” Twilight said while shaking her head and pausing to catch her breath.

“Then why, pray tell, have you so rudely interrupted me when I was in the middle of something?” Shade asked in an unimpressed tone while staring at the unicorn with an expectant expression.

“I just need to a-ask you one… t-thing. Please… please don’t kill my friends.” Twilight pleaded in a sincere tone.

“Twilight, get away from him!” Rainbow Dash yelled from across the room.

“Please Twilight… I can’t watch you die again!” Fluttershy pleaded with a fearful expression.

“So… let me get this straight. You want me… to just not kill your friends?” Shade asked in a tone of disbelief. He was half certain that he misheard the unicorn, or that she hit her head a little too hard when he overpowered her and the other elements.

“Yes… please. I love them so much… I couldn’t bear watching them die. You are the most powerful being in Equestria… most likely even the world. Please… just don’t kill them. You can do whatever you want to me.” Twilight said in a desperate tone.

“Heh… hah… ahaha… ehhahahaha!” Shade suddenly burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Everyone watched the stallion with dreadful expressions as he laughed in the purple mare’s face. Twilight felt her heart deflating as her one request was shot down. Not that she expected the stallion to honor her desire, but it was the last and only thing she could do.

“Oh, Twilight Sparkle… dear, sweet, innocent… Twilight Sparkle.” Shade said in a softer, more unnerving tone while walking towards the unicorn. Twilight gulped nervously and tried to walk backward, but her body wouldn’t allow her to move as fast as she wanted. Even though the stallion was walking at a slow pace, he caught up to the purple mare almost effortlessly.

“W-what?” Twilight stammered, more so out of fear than exhaustion.

“I’m not just going to kill your friends…” Shade stated in a lighthearted tone while placing a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. Twilight jumped slightly as she felt her body coming into contact with the icy cold hoof of the shadowy stallion.

“W-w-what are you g-going to do?” Twilight could feel herself trembling like a frightened filly. Her friends watched with fearful expressions as the stallion smiled while slowly shifting his hoof across her body.

“I’m going to make your friends watch me kill you… and then I’m going to kill your friends.” Shade said with a devilish smirk while shifting his hoof to grab the unicorn by the neck. Although he was being rough with her, he didn’t seem to be strangling her. Instead, Twilight suddenly felt a numbing coldness start around her neck as the stallion’s hoof glowed with a faint aura.

“Gh… guh… alggh…” Twilight groaned while grasping at the stallion’s arm with her hooves. She could feel herself getting weaker while the cold feeling worsened and spread down her neck and into her chest and back. It didn’t just feel cold, it felt like her body was completely going numb, and the pins and needles sensation that came along with it was almost unbearable.

“Twilight!!” The others yelled while watching the scene unfold before them with horrified expressions of panic.

“Get away from her!” Rainbow Dash demanded while rushing forward as fast as her injuries would allow. Realizing that they couldn’t stop the cyan mare, the others leapt into action along with her. Celestia and Luna lit up their horns and aimed at the stallion, and Glimmer Shine managed to aim his strobe while on the floor.

Shade offered a quick glance to the side, only to see the cyan pegasus charging toward him and the rest of the ponies either gearing up to fight or watching with frightened expressions. Rather than stopping what he was doing and devoting more attention to his new attackers, the stallion simply smirked and continued draining the energy out of the purple unicorn.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-stride as she felt something tug on her leg violently. She yelped in surprise while she was pulled to the ground. As she looked down with an agitated expression of confusion, the cyan mare widened her eyes in surprise as she saw what was holding onto her. It looked like a pitch black hoof was reaching out of her shadow and grabbing her by the leg.

“Hey, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash fumed in a frustrated tone while tugging against her captor. “Let me… hrrk… let me go!” She raised her voice angrily as she pulled her leg as hard as she could, only to have the shadowy hoof pull harder to keep her on the floor.

Just as suddenly as the pegasus was restrained, Celestia and Luna, as well as Rarity and Glitterball felt something shooting up and latching onto their horns. What appeared to be an undulating mass of shadow energy was completely covering their horns, suppressing the four’s ability to channel magic through them. While the two unicorns squealed in fright and disgust while frantically groping their horns in an attempt at ridding themselves of the black substance, Glimmer Shine had his strobe knocked away as yet another shadowy mass reached out of his own shadow and pinned his arm down.

“Gah!” Glimmer Shine exclaimed in surprise as he was pulled to the floor and restrained. Sunspot and the others tried to pull him up, but the shadowy appendage was too strong for them to overpower.

“Sister, I can’t use my magic! This stuff must be canceling out any energy flowing through it.” Luna stated in a mild panic while racing to free her horn by any means so she could rescue the distressed unicorn across the room.

“Twilight!” Celestia yelled in a fearful tone while watching the purple mare struggling to get the stallion’s hoof off of her. “You leave her alone! She doesn’t deserve this… take me instead!” She pleaded desperately with her body trembling and her heart racing. She couldn’t bear the thought of watching her faithful student die. She almost died herself when she merely heard about Raven Feather stabbing her to death.

“You will wait your turn!” Shade yelled in an agitated tone while glaring at the group across the room. Applejack and Pinkie Pie tried to rush forward to help free Rainbow Dash and make an attempt at saving Twilight, when they too were suddenly pulled to the floor by a dark arm reaching up from their shadows.

Twilight fought with every ounce of her being to just take in shallow breaths. Her entire chest was going numb and her muscles were failing her. Her legs faltered and she fell, only to be caught by the stallion applying pressure to his hoof and actually holding her by the neck. The added difficulty of being choked even slightly only made it even more strenuous to breath, let alone fight back. Before she passed out from being suffocated, Shade pushed her onto her back and released pressure from her neck. However, the painful feeling of cold and weakness was still present, and it was spreading further throughout her body.

“*Gasp*… *Wheeze* G…guh.” Twilight choked out a mess of frantic breaths and distressed noises. Her lungs were pumping air through her body as fast as she could manage, but it was like the air wasn’t reaching her. No matter how much she breathed, it felt like her body was suffocating and screaming for air, or for energy of any kind.

“Twilight! Hang in there! I’m… hrrgh… I’m coming!” Rainbow Dash said in a desperate tone while pulling on her leg as hard as she could. Despite her reassuring statement, it was clear that the cyan mare was panicking, and that she was going nowhere fast. From the look of her situation, her leg would probably be dislocated before she freed herself.

With Shade holding her just off the ground, Twilight tilted her head back to look at her friends. They were all watching her with fearful expressions and pale faces. They were all desperately trying to think or do something that would help her, but she was beyond their reach. She could feel her body shutting down more and more by the minute. She didn’t even feel cold anymore, with only numbness and weakness remaining.

“E… e-everyone… *Wheeze*… I’m… so..rry.” Twilight muttered in a despairing tone. She could barely see her friends anymore through her blurry vision, but she knew that they would be devastated from watching her die. With a nagging tiredness coaxing her into closing her eyes, Twilight laid her head back and let go of the stallion’s arm with her hooves. Her mind drifted to her friends and all of the happy faces that she would be leaving behind. Spike, her brother, her best friends, she would never see any of them again, and they would most likely die along with her. There was no feeling of peaceful bliss that came with her last death. There was no faint glimmer of hope that her friends would go on without her to victory. She had lost, and she was paying the ultimate price for being conquered by her enemies.

“Twilight, no!” Rainbow Dash and the others screamed in denial as they watched their friend lying motionless in the stallion’s grasp. They couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not, but seeing her like this immediately flooded their minds with terrible memories of when they watched her bleed out in front of them. The five mares and several of the others teared up and started weeping uncontrollably while still desperately trying to break free from their bonds.

“Hahahah… Do you finally see? The power of darkness holds no equal. There is no light that can extinguish me!” Shade stated in a bold tone while staring down at the unicorn at his feet.

As the group of ponies lamented their imminent demise and gave up on anything being able to save them, they were silenced suddenly as a bright light appeared near Shade and Twilight. The light appeared seemingly out of thin air, growing in intensity until it forced everyone in the room to cover their eyes.

Shade screamed in painful surprise while stepping back and covering his face with one arm. His form smoked slightly from the burning sensation that the light was giving him. Although it wouldn’t damage him greatly, it was painful enough to warrant him to step back and retreat several feet.

Twilight suddenly felt oddly tingly as she stirred her body slightly. She could strangely feel all of her body now, and she felt an intense warmness that was seemingly returning the feeling to her. On top of the feeling returning to her body, she felt less and less of the weakness that plagued her before. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was greeted with a bright light that made her shield her face. Oddly enough though, she felt like she had seen that same light somewhere before.

“Ugh…” Twilight groaned softly as she lifted her head up off the ground. As she peaked open one of her eyes to see if the light was still there, she discovered that it had vanished. Through her still blurry vision, the unicorn could make out the shape of someone standing in front of her. Although it was improving, her eyesight was only a mess of colors and shapes at the moment.

“…!” Rainbow Dash and the others suddenly grew silent as they stared ahead of them. Twilight wondered what had spooked her friends into ceasing their bout of crying almost instantly.

Rubbing her eyes slightly and blinking rapidly to restore her vision, Twilight looked ahead of her and squinted to get a better look. As soon as her eyes could make out a clear picture, a surprised gasp escaped her mouth and she shot up slightly.

“T…T…T-Tom!” Twilight exclaimed in an utterly bewildered tone. She couldn’t believe her eyes, but there he was standing in front of her, a young human boy in his teenage years with light red hair and a blue track uniform on. Unless the boy had an uncanny twin brother with similar taste in clothing that inexplicably appeared in front of her, the purple mare was certain that it was Tom.

Tom turned to look behind him and smiled softly as he saw the room full of ponies with stunned expressions. He looked down to see the unicorn on the floor and held out his hand to offer her some help up.

“It’s nice to see you too Twilight… need a hand?” Tom asked curiously while waiting for the purple mare to move. After a few moments of stammering and non-stop staring at the human, Twilight reached out her hoof and grabbed his hand, only to have him pull her up with her still speechless.

“But… you… and… but… but… how?!” Twilight asked in a dumbfounded tone while staring at the human with a shocked expression.

“There’s no time for questions right now. We’ve got a job to do.” Tom said while looking behind him at the shadowy stallion still recovering from the burning light. “Go grab the elements of harmony and get ready to use them.” He instructed in a calm manner and waited for the unicorn to snap out of her stupor.

Twilight glanced behind her at the element of magic lying on the floor where it landed. The sight of the tiara on its side with a slight char mark on it only further cemented her previous failure in the unicorn’s mind.

“The elements won’t work on him… we already tried using them and he almost killed us.” Twilight explained in a disheartened tone.

“Giving up so soon Twilight?” Tom asked in a surprised tone. “Look, just trust me on this one… go prepare the elements and use them as soon as you can.” He said in a more serious tone while leveling with the purple mare.

“Ok… Ok.” Twilight nodded while turning around and taking a few steps forward while lifting the fallen tiara up with her magic and bringing it next to her. She paused abruptly and turned around with a worried expression, only to see the human turning to face the shadowy stallion.

“But… what about you?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone. She took a glance back to her friends, only to see them looking back with equally concerned expressions for the human.

“Don’t worry. I should be able to handle him… at least for a few minutes.” Tom said in a confident tone while smirking back at the purple mare.

Twilight lingered a moment longer before shrugging in defeat and turning to run to her friends. She trotted across the room to the group of ponies waiting for her eagerly. Apparently whatever bonds Shade put on the two alicorns and the others disappeared when the blinding light filled the room.

“Twilight… Ah’m so glad you’re ok.” Applejack said in a sincere tone while offering the unicorn a brief hug along with the others.

“I’m glad you guys are ok too… now come on, we need to get ready to use the elements again. Tom has a plan.” Twilight explained confidently while looking back at the human. The others nodded before rushing off to pick up the few necklaces that fell off of them when they landed.

“Grrr…” Shade growled angrily while looking down to his still smoking skin. After a few more moments to allow the smoldering to stop, he looked up and glared at the human standing in the middle of the room. Tom gasped suddenly as a violent puff of blue mist escaped his mouth. He staggered slightly before steadying himself and standing tall against the shadowy stallion.

“I don’t know what you are… but I don’t really care. You will not harm this world any more than you already have.” Tom said with a resolute tone of voice while staring his enemy down.

“You dare to interrupt me, slayer?! I will wipe you off the face of the planet along with the rest of your kind and your race!” Shade bellowed in a voice that carried through the room. While the ponies on the far side of the room were deeply unnerved and frightened by the angered stallion, their human friend was still level headed and standing still.

“I’ll bet you say that to every slayer you meet… not that you have met any. I think I would definitely remember you if a previous slayer saw that face.” Tom said with a slight smirk.

“If you are so eager to die, then I will be happy to oblige you.” Shade said in a cold tone while letting shadow energy pulsate from his body.

Tom placed his arms at his sides and left them there. After a moment, a metallic scraping sound filled the air as fire flowed from his outstretched fingers. Before long, the boy had summoned his claws, good as new and ready to dispatch any enemy before him. The sight of the spirit weapons glinting in the light made a silent feeling of awe work its way over the group of ponies.

“You wouldn’t be the first person to try that today.” Tom said while shaking his head with a confident smirk. Without much warning, the boy let out a fierce yell while charging forward towards the stallion. Shade yelled as well while running forward to meet the human, channeling shadow energy to his front left hoof as he ran.

Before the pair collided, Shade threw his hoof out in front of him and started shooting a beam of darkness toward the human. Tom quickly threw his own hand out and projected a stream of blue light in front of him. The two clashed as they held their arms out while right in each other’s face. Somehow, the two beams of energy seemed to be pushing each other back, with progress only being made on either side as they moved in with their feet to where they were standing only a few inches away from each other.

Twilight and the others watched anxiously as Tom fought to keep up with the stallion. The human could tell that his opponent was holding back. Despite the fact that Shade wasn’t using his full scope of power, he was swiftly pouring more energy into his attack. Although he probably couldn’t keep up such a steady increase in power for long, Tom was keeping his beam of light strong enough to push the beam of darkness back to the point where both beams were forming into a large spherical shape as each tried to spread out around the other.

The ponies on the other side of the room watched in awe as the human and the stallion clashed. They had never seen such a violent pair of powers meeting in their lives. The intense sound being given off by the two beams was practically making the room shake.

After a few moments of shouting while standing completely still and glaring at their respective opponent, Tom and Shade suddenly noticed that the ball of energy between them was growing more unstable by the minute. With the two different streams of light and darkness gradually melding together, a loud bang suddenly sounded out as a small explosion blew the human and the stallion several feet away. Shade and Tom both recovered after skidding their feet on the ground to gradually slow their momentum. Once they were both back on their feet, they rushed at each other again and started trading physical blows.

Meanwhile, the ponies on the other side of the room were watching nervously while the six mares in their midst huddled together and tried to hurry in every way possible to help their human friend win the fight.

“Come on guys… we can do this.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone while looking around at her small troop. Not all of her friends shared her enthusiasm on the subject of using the elements again.

“We’re trying Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said in a troubled tone while looking around at the pale expressions of exhaustion on her friends’ faces. She felt like passing out and slipping into a restful coma herself with how much she had been thrown around recently.

“I’m not sure if I can do this again… I don’t feel very good.” Fluttershy said in a weak tone while trying to ignore her sore body.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy… we only need to let the elements do the work for us. We’re here because we want to protect Equestria… to protect our friends.” Twilight said while thinking about Spike. The thought of the young dragon waiting for her to go back to Ponyville filled her with a burning desire to stop anything from bringing harm to him, and right now that anything was standing across the room from her fighting yet another friend.

The others looked at each other while thinking about those that they cared about, and the ones who cared about them. They smiled softly as they all unanimously decided that in order to protect their friends and family, they would have to be strong for at least a while longer.

“Gah!” Tom yelped in pain from across the room, drawing everyone’s attention away. The group turned to see the human reeling back from the stallion with a gash on his arm. Shade also had a wound across his chest from the human’s blades, causing him to growl in frustration and pain.

As the boy stopped a few feet from the stallion, he looked down to his still bleeding arm and concentrated for a moment. Right on cue, a flash of orange erupted from his wound as it was slowly enveloped by embers and disappeared. Taking a look up to see Shade still standing ahead, the boy noticed that he was healing his own injury as well, if not with much greater ease.

Shade glared at the human as his wounded skin shifted and healed while a small amount of shadow energy pulsed out of him. He was starting to get more and more frustrated and angry at the fact that he actually had to try to fight the slayer.

“This is pointless! Surely you must know that even you can’t kill me.” Shade stated in a bold tone while meeting the human’s icy glare in intensity.

“Nothing on this planet is immortal in every sense. You can die… and you’re going to right here and now.” Tom said with a confident expression on his face. The stallion felt an overwhelming feeling of anger washing over him as the human refused to be scared away by his threats.

“You need to learn a lesson in respect!” Shade yelled while shooting his hoof out in front of him angrily. A localized shockwave of energy shot out of his hoof and traveled toward the boy at lightning speeds. Tom didn’t have time to dodge before he was knocked backwards into the air with a painful smack to his chest.

Shade watched as the human flew backwards and into the wall. He let out a grunt of pain before settling onto the floor and trying to recover. The stallion laughed while channeling an aura of dark energy around himself. He reveled in the sheer negative power that was coursing through his body.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you bottomed out. You lasted a great deal longer than these weaklings ever could, but no more!” Shade yelled while stamping his hoof on the ground angrily.

“Hey!” A voice shouting at the stallion from across the room made him turn to the side. He looked ahead to see Twilight and her friends standing in front of the others, wearing their elements with determined expressions on their faces once more.

“These weaklings would like to have a word with you.” Twilight said in a confident tone while looking around at her friends. The five mares were equally determined and standing strong beside her. They continued staring ahead with steely expressions even as the shadowy stallion started laughing uncontrollably.

“Hahah… you can’t be serious. This is the most fun I have had in recent memory… I honestly didn’t think any of you would be stupid enough to stand against me again!” Shade said while shifting his voice to a more amused tone.

“The one who underestimates his enemy is a fool no matter how strong he his.” Twilight stated in a resolute tone. She looked to her friends, who offered confident nods in return, before directing her attention forward and steeling herself.

Twilight lit up her horn and used her magic to call on the power of the elements. The jewels her and her friends wore glowed with a faint aura as a magical hum filled the air once more. The six mares stood their ground as their elements started emitting rays of light and drawing their bodies into formation. Strangely enough, instead of being lifted into the air, they were pulled into a line with each other, with Twilight being slightly in front. Soon enough, their eyes glowed white and they were enveloped in an aura of light.

Celestia and the others backed up as a beam of rainbow colored light suddenly shot out of the area in front of the six mares. The beam traveled straight ahead instead of arcing in the air, meeting the stallion head on.

Tired of playing games with the ponies, Shade projected a ray of shadow energy and clashed again with the beam of light from the elements. Instead of waiting to fight back with his full strength, he quickly gained ground as his beam pushed back violently on the ray of light.

Twilight and the others groaned softly as they felt a familiar strain on their bodies. Things weren’t exactly going as they had planned. Even though nothing changed from last time, they somehow hoped that the elements would work this time and eradicate the stallion.

“Dangit… it’s not working!” Twilight said in a frustrated tone. She and her friends could barely put their full energy into the beam, but it wouldn’t matter either way.

“Sorry to put an end to your little ploy, but this time you won’t be getting back up.” Shade stated with a bold chuckle. The ponies started feeling a pervasive sense of panic as the beam pushing back on them had a new sense of grim finality.

“*Whistle* Hey ugly, are you forgetting someone?” Tom whistled from off to the side, drawing everyone’s attention to him. They saw the boy standing casually near the beam of light, seemingly watching the struggle unfold.

“Ok… I am really starting to get pissed off by you. I don’t care how you popped out of nowhere in a ball of light. You won’t be able to stop me… even if you work with them.” Shade said with an agitated scowl.

“That is where you are wrong.” Tom stated in a confident tone while stretching his arm out. The human projected a ray of light out of his palm and directed it towards the end of the rainbow of light formed by the elements. Much to everyone’s surprise, the blue tinted light collided with the light from the elements and actually melded with it. The two beams met with each other and seemed to work together as if they were made for each other.

Suddenly, a louder variant of the magical hum being emitted by the elements filled the air. The ponies watched with astonished expressions as the rainbow of light and the human’s positive energy flowed together until they reached a certain point, where they completely fused together. Much to everyone’s surprise, a beam of pure white light shot out from the point where the two lights ended, pushing back the beam of darkness as violently as it had been pushing back the elements.

“What…?!” Twilight exclaimed in a shocked tone.

“What the hay is happening?!” Rainbow Dash asked with equal confusion and disbelief.

“My word… I don’t believe it.” Celestia said while staring ahead in a bewildered manner. She had never seen anything like this in her long life.

The ray of pure white light continued pushing back on the beam of darkness, to the point where it was actually causing the shadowy stallion a considerable amount of discomfort. As he poured more and more energy into his beam, Shade quickly realized that he was having a hard time keeping up with the power of the newly formed light.

“What the… How is this possible?! The elements of harmony are far too weak to hold this much power… and your power isn’t nearly enough to make this much of a difference! What trickery are you pulling slayer?!” Shade demanded in an angered tone while glaring at the human while fighting against the light with everything he had.

“No tricks… just balance.” Tom said in a confident tone, much to the confusion of everyone else in the room, most of all the shadowy stallion.

“Balance?! What on earth are you on about?!” Shade asked in a dumbfounded tone while raising his voice again.

“You shouldn’t be allowed to exist. There are supposed to be relatively equal amounts of good and evil in the world. Nothing is meant to be able to tip the balance too far to one side or the other. That is why the slayers were created… that is why I am here. The elements of harmony are meant to bring balance to the world, but you are far too pure of a shadow creature to have their powers work on you… without outside help that is.” Tom explained in a resolute tone while staring at the stallion with a disdainful expression.

“This isn’t happening… you can’t just do this! I am darkness incarnate! You cannot destroy the power of evil!” Shade yelled in refusal while pouring all of his energy into the beam of darkness in front of him. The ponies could feel the intensity of the evil amassed in the stallion as he pushed his beam to the point where it started slowly repelling the light again. Despite this apparent setback, Tom remained steadfast and confident.

“We might not be able to rid the world of evil, but that isn’t why we fight. There will always be justice in this world to counter the darkness. As long as anyone challenges that balance, I will never stop fighting to protect the innocent!” Tom yelled fiercely while intensifying his own ray of light. As the blue light flowed into the power from the elements of harmony and increased the power of the white beam, Twilight and the others poured everything they had into the elements in order to assist the human.

The combined power of the elements of harmony and the slayer’s positive energy pushed back hard on Shade and his power, sending the beam of darkness back a considerable amount. As the light got closer and closer to his body, the stallion quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to withstand its power. Before he could try to escape however, his power finally gave out and the light engulfed him.

“Noooo!” Shade screamed painfully as his entire form burned in the light. In a few moments, he disappeared from view as the light intensified and blazed past him. Twilight, her fellow elements, and their human friend felt their power surging ahead unfettered and let a triumphant smile creep across their faces.

Finally, the light died down as the elements of harmony ceased emitting their power. Tom let his light die down as well as the white light vanished from view. Instead of seeing a mass of black smoke dispersing into the air as they expected, the group saw a rather sobering sight.

A small pony skeleton fell out of the air and settled on the ground. Judging from the size of the skeleton, the ponies wagered it to be around the size of a young colt. As the last few wisps of smoke trailed off the bones, everyone realized what this meant and lowered their heads somberly.

“So… that must be…” Twilight muttered uncomfortably as she looked ahead at the skeleton on the floor.

“All that’s left of Grimwood…” Celestia finished her student’s sentence in a hesitant tone. Everyone felt an oddly hollow feeling along with the warm happiness of their victory. Many lives had been lost in their long battle with the hooded ponies, and the colt’s skeleton on the floor and the dead bodies of the guards strewn around the room only served as a grim punctuation to this fact.

“We should get Raincloud out of here before she wakes up. I don’t think she needs to see that.” Rainbow Dash suggested while turning her attention to the grey mare lying on the floor a few feet away. The pegasus was still where she was when she was rendered unconscious by Shade.

“I will take care of Raincloud. You all should go and get some rest.” Celestia said while turning to the group with a concerned expression. Many of the ponies were battered and bruised, and they all felt exhausted beyond belief.

“Here princess, you will probably need these.” Glimmer Shine said while tossing a pair of hoof cuffs over to the alicorn. Celestia grabbed the small object out of the air with her magic and examined them. Sure enough, there were inscriptions on the cuffs that distinguished them as shadow magic suppressers. The princess nodded understandingly while bringing the cuffs to her side. As much as they had come to know the grey mare in their brief time fighting together, she wasn’t their ally, and she would need to be restrained for when she woke up. Before the group turned to leave, Tom looked over to the small skeleton across the room with a curious expression. He used his senses once and raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and sighing.

“Princess… you may want to take special precautions when burying Grimwood’s bones. He must have been exposed to a potent evil presence if he turned into that… his remains might still be negatively charged. It shouldn’t be much of a problem though… I can help make sure they are properly dealt with.” Tom suggested in a helpful tone. The white alicorn smiled softly as she looked at the human with an expression of disbelief.

“Thank you Tom… it is good to have you back. I never had the chance to properly thank you for saving Twilight’s life… but just know that my gratitude is far less than you deserve.” Celestia said in a sincere tone while looking to the purple mare and her friends. Twilight and the others smiled as the human turned to look at them and smiled in return. They were more than bursting with excitement and happiness that the boy and the purple mare were alive again. If their bodies weren’t likely to slip into comas from the use of energy, they would most likely by celebrating much more than simply smiling at them.

“Think nothing of it Princess. Twilight and the others have helped me far more than I have helped them.” Tom said in a grateful tone while walking over to the six mares. Twilight and the others immediately felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and happiness welling up inside them.

“Aww… *Sniff*… Come here you guys!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while reaching forward and wrapping everyone up in a group hug. Although the others lightly protested to the pink mare being so energetic and rough with them, they enjoyed the embrace just as much.

Celestia and Luna, along with Glimmer Shine and his teammates smiled warmly as they watched the six mares and their human friend. Despite everything that happened in the past few hours, not to mention the past week and a half, they were still as cheerful and caring as ever.